THE FLEECE AS A PERSON OR OBJECT NAMED RAM

Ancient Sources

Beginning with the rationalizing mythography of Palaephatus (uncertain date; perhaps late fourth century BCE), there has been a trend to explain the events of the Argonauts' voyage as distortions, exaggerations, and misinterpretations of historical events. Palaephatus rationalized the Golden Fleece as a statue of a woman named Fleece carried on a boat provisioned by Mr. Ram. Dionysus Scytobrachion, as preserved in Diodorus Siculus, instead proposes that the boat was itself the Ram, after its carved prow. Didorus also preserves the claim that aboard the ship was Phrixus' tutor, another Mr. Ram (Krios or Crius--an actual Greek first name then in use), who was killed and strung up in Colchis.

On Unbelievable ThingsPalaephatusc. 325-300 BCEAthamas [...] had and administrator [...] whose name was Ram. [...] Ram himself equipped a ship: he put on board [...] a life-size, golden statue which a woman by the name of Fleece--she was the mother of Merops and the daughter of the Sun--had made of herself from her own wealth. [...] Phrixus married the daughter of Aeetes, the king of Colchis, giving as a dowry the golden statue of Fleece. Later when Athamas died, Jason sailed in the Argo after his golden Fleece--but it was hardly the skin of a ram. And this is the true story. (Excerpt from Myth 15) Source: Palaephatus, On Unbelievable Tales, trans. Jacob Stern (Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 1996).

The Library of HistoryDiodorus Siculusc. 1st c. BCEAnd much like to this story, is what they say concerning Phryxus: for they say that he sailed in a ship, upon whose fore-deck was carved the head of a ram, and that Helle by leaning too much forward over the sides of the ship to vomit, fell over-board into the sea. Others say, that about the time that Phryxus with his schoolmaster was taken by Aeetes, the Scythian king, the father-in-law of Aeetes, came to Colchis, and fell in love with the boy, and upon that account he was bestowed by Aeetes upon the Scythian, who loved him as his own child, and adopted him as his heir and successor to the kingdom. But that the school-master whose name was Crius, was sacrificed to the gods, and his skin, according to the custom, was fastened to the walls of the temple. (4.47)

The Annals of HistoryTacitus35 CE Many stories are told about Jason, and the famous oracle of Phrixus. No ram may be sacrificed to Phrixus, because he is supposed to have been carried by one of those animals, whether it really was a ram, or only the figurehead of a ship. (4.34.4) Source: The Annals of Tacitus Books I-VI: An English Translation, trans. George Gilbert Ramsay (London: John Murray, 1904)

Modern Interpretations

Modern writers have drawn on the ancient works, and this is well-shown by the tendency of early modern rationalizers to follow Diodorus Siculus in adopting the boat named Ram as a preferred explanation. More recently, "alternative" archaeology authors, like the Afrocentrist theorist quoted below, have reimagined the assumed existence of the boat named Ram as proof of a connection between the Argonauts and other ancient civilizations, in this case ancient Egypt, based on a web of assumption and coincidence. As can be seen, there is a direct line between modern rationalizations and the rationalizations of the ancients themselves--and neither has actual evidence to support their claims.

Mythology and FablesAntoine Banier1740

By way of Explanation of Circumstances so manifestly absurd, the antient Mythologists invented a new Fable, and said the Governor of Phryxus was named Crios, the Ram, or Chrysomallus, the Golden Fleece: But I believe we had better say simply with Diodorus Siculus, Eusebius, and the antient Scholiast on Apollonius, that the Ship on which Phryxus went aboard was named the Ram, or the Golden Fleece, because it bore the Representation thereof. I add, that this Ship being very light, had flown, as I may say, from Greece to Colchis, and that Phryxus, according to the Custom of those Times had consecrated the Prow of it to one of the Gods whom I have named. ’Tis even easy to see from this Explanation, in what Sense it might have been said that the Ram and the Golden Fleece was the Son of Neptune, because the Ram represented the Ship which carried Phryxus and Helk, and every good Ship might be considered as the Son, or rather the Work of the God of the Sea.Abbe Banier, The Mythology and Fables of the Ancients, Explained from History (London: A. Millar, 1740).

A Classical DictionaryJohn Lemprière 1788

The fable of the flight of Phryxus to Colchis on a ram has been explained by some, who observe, that the ship on which he embarked was either called by that name, or carried on her prow the figure of that animal. The fleece of gold is explained by recollecting that Phryxus carried away immense treasures from Thebes. (s.v. "Phryxus")

Egyptian Civilization in Colchis on the Black SeaR. A. Jairazbhoy1988The fleece is described as being "watched over by a serpent." Such a golden ram's head overlooked by a serpent occurs nowhere else than on the prow of a ship of Ramses III (and one of his predecessors). The ship was named Userhet, it was 130 cubits long (about 200 feet), and had golden rams on both prow and stern, each with a uraeus serpent overtopping it surmounted with the sun's disk. Below is a grand collar, which could have been mistaken for its fleece. Source: R. A. Jairazbhoy, “Egyptian Civilization in Colchis on the Black Sea,” in African Presence in Early Asia, eds. Runoko Rashidi and Ivan Van Sertima (New Brunswick: Transaction, 1988), 61.